2:49 p.m.: I've been covering the 2008 election for 15 months now. I waited until Election Day in a bipartisan spirit, thinking that being a late decider would help keep my reporting unbiased. ...more

November 4, 2008

2 p.m.: Unprinted ballots, jammed phone lines and problems with address changes are some of the problems plaguing polling sites in Hillsborough County. ...more

November 4, 2008

1:43 p.m. Voting at Precinct 913 at the Wimauma Civic Center slowed down a bit after a pre-workday rush hour but picked up again during the lunch hour. More than 400 people had voted by noon. ...more

November 4, 2008

1:16 p.m.: From jammed optical scanners to long lines at a University of South Florida polling place, the first hours of voting have produced a mishmash of reported problems statewide, voting rights advocates say. ...more

November 4, 2008

11:25 a.m.: When Manuel Potter, 67, went to turn in his ballot at Precinct 968 at All Events Catering, 1301 78th St., Tampa, he noticed a problem. The ballot was already filled out, he says. ...more

November 4, 2008

11:10 a.m.: Michael Baccich, 57, of Tampa said he was told he'd already requested and returned an absentee ballot when he went to vote this morning. He said he hadn't even requested one. ...more

November 4, 2008

10 a.m.: One of the newest polling locations in South Shore reported brisk turnout little more than two hours after the polls opened today. "We started off with around 200 voters," said Billie Fox, poll deputy for precinct 933 at the SouthShore Regional Service Center in Ruskin. "Since then we've had more than 350." ...more

November 4, 2008

9:58 a.m.: Poll workers and voters at Flora Street and Florida Avenue in Tampa are puzzled by the black helicopter hovering about 50 yards overhead. ...more

November 4, 2008

9:25 a.m.: The morning rush appears to be over at precinct 701 in FishHawk Ranch. At one point people were waiting for 1½ hours to cast their votes, patiently standing in a line that wrapped around the building and down the street. ...more

November 4, 2008

8:07 a.m.: Pasco County is experiencing technological glitches at five of its 139 polling places, says Brian Corley, the county's Supervisor of Elections. "We are one of 16 counties in the state that switched to electronic poll books," says Corley. "We have five precincts where the activators do not want to play nice, and we are coming up with some anomalies." So, instead of swiping a license or state ID card through an electronic reader at those sites – including Precinct 43 in Holiday – poll workers are using the old-fashioned method, checking names against a printed book of eligible voters. ...more

November 4, 2008